Chapter 6: Celestial Investigation
Celestia trotted towards Luna’s room, shooting the occasional guard a kind smile on the occasion that they broke from their typical demeanor of complete silence and stoicism to acknowledge and, usually, salute her; a behaviour common mostly among newer guards, though of course, for some, the effect of seeing Celestia herself almost daily never wore off. She never grew tired of it herself. Being loved by those she loved in return was something that was a constant in her life, and a constant she appreciated almost as much, if not more than, any other.
Raising a hoof, she knocked politely. Luna did not take kindly to those who barged in without making themselves known, first. It was a pet peeve of hers, and Celestia was well aware of it. “Come in!” Luna shouted - and so she did.
“Sister,” Celestia began, before pausing, horn lighting up to close the door behind her as she walked in, “my student has encountered a creature that you may be familiar with.”
The eyes of the night almost immediately lit up, and she stood from her seat, bouncing slightly. Monsters - the thrill of it all - Faust, she loved it so much. “Which one? The - the Balrog? Oh, the Ancient Nightmare? I got it! The Ewok!”
She giggled to herself before taking on a more serious expression and stance. “No, sister. Starswirl claims to have passed on his notes of these creatures to you, or at least of his exploration into their domain. Have you heard of xenomorphs?”
A faint glimmer of recollection entered Luna’s eyes, and she rose a hoof to her chin. “I - believe so, though I’m not completely aware where from. Bear with me for a moment, Celly.”
Pet names. Celestia’s lips curved upwards. It was moments like this that she realised just how much she had missed Luna in her thousand-year absence.
Luna’s horn lit up in a blaze of her shade of blue and she spun on the spot, many journals and books - most written by Luna herself and never revealed to the public - levitating out of a few now-opened drawers, flipping through many of them before stopping at one, leaning forward slightly, muzzle slightly scrunched up and practically buried in the papers. She hummed to herself before levitating the others away and into their appropriate places, reaching a hoof forward and brushing against the words on the page; judging by how quickly her eyes flicked side-to-side, she was reading quickly.
The Princess of the Night, the Survivor of Solitude, Conqueror of the Cosmos, and Lunar Goddess gasped, silent for a second. Eyes wide, she looked towards Celestia. “We have to go,” she said, her tone brooking no argument.
Celestia hardened herself and nodded. “Inform me on the way.”
“So you’re telling me,” Twilight ground out from her clenched teeth, furious with her friends, “that Fluttershy saw Strange Form crying in the library. And that because of this. You decided it was a good idea. To assume he had eaten me. And. Assault. The library.”
The group of five looked away from each other nervously. Rarity held an ice pack just below her horn, nursing a bad bruise, the others sporting similar bruises, though none paying as much attention to them as Rarity was; which was fair considering she had been knocked unconscious. Rainbow was the first to pipe up. “We didn’t know what to think, Twi, we-”
“I don’t CARE,” Twilight shouted, patience shattering in an instant, “if you didn’t know what to think! You’ve made Strange Form feel even worse after his mother died - was murdered! You have no clue how angry I am at all of you, I - UGH!”
Stomping off upstairs to where Strange Form had gone to cry, she left the five behind, all reeling from the revelation that Strange’s mother had just died and they had done this. They knew how to feel.
Bad.
The wind soared beneath their wings as they flew forth, the strength of their wings and pegasus magic propelling them faster than would have otherwise been possible. Though the sound of the wind rushing past was loud, the two princesses could still communicate just fine. Celestia sported a look of incredible worry - fear, really - while Luna had her own face set firm. Only a professional actor of great skill would be able to notice the glint of terror and apprehension that shined in her eyes. She had fought creatures of basic instinct, but they were never a difficult fight. She had fought evil people before; but they were not inherently evil. Corrupted, straddling the grey line, falling off into the darkness. She had been like that once. The xenomorphs, from all she knew, were different. Not exactly of base instinct, yet not of the capability for moral good. Monsters, plain and simple.
Luna was snapped out of her pseudo-philosophical thoughts when Celestia spoke up. “How can we be sure that there aren’t others? That we aren’t going to have an infestation on our hands just like what happened to that Earth?” She asked, wavering slightly at ‘infestation’.
“Well,” Luna said, “we can’t. In fact, I must recommend we assume that we are dealing with that kind of situation. If there is an infestation, we may very well be dealing with the most dangerous situation in Equestrian history.”
Celestia nodded, thinking deep. “Twilight says that this one is capable of speech. Did Star Swirl mention anything about that?”
“Star Swirl said something about their screams, but they never - at least, according to him - spoke.”
“Then,” Celestia started, pausing for a moment before biting her lip and beginning again, “then perhaps we should attempt diplomacy. Twilight was alive while she sent the letter, wasn’t she? Perhaps we have encountered a certain breed of xenomorph that is less harmful. Not harmful at all, even.”
Luna was silent for slightly longer than was normal before she spoke up. Someone that didn’t know her would’ve said that this was just a slight social lapse. Someone that knew her, like Celestia, knew that she was thinking deeply about whether or not what Celestia had just said was a great idea or a terrible one. “...yes. My instincts tell me to simply obliterate the problem, but such is not the harmonic way. You are, as always,” Luna chuckled, “a few steps ahead of me.”
“Oh, you don’t need to tell me. I remember the chess game yesterday, Lulu.”
“Ah, yes,” Luna said, chagrined, “and utilising the Scandinavian Defence, no less.”
There was a brief moment of quiet. Celestia opened her mouth, closed it, opened it, closed it, opened it…
“What actually is a Scandinavian?”
Luna blinked. “You know, I have no idea.”
Twilight blinked back tears. Today had been stressful, and it was getting worse, but she knew that Strange was having a much worse day. She had found a murder victim, but the victim had been his mother. Her friends had made one of her friends feel worse, but that friend was Strange. Everything was wrong today. Everything was worse for Strange Form, who sat on the ground in front of her, hissing softly and laying the front of his head against the ground.
She let out a breath she didn’t know she had been holding before approaching Strange, who was lying in front of her bedroom door. She noticed that he had grown somewhat in the back of her head. She knew it wasn’t normal, but she tended to think about… just about everything, all at the same time.
Laying down next to him, she placed a hoof on his back, just in between the slight ridges on his back. She simply stayed there for a bit, listening to his cries, before she decided to open her mouth. She couldn’t get a word out.
“I-I just don’t understand, Twilight! I don’t! Why? Wh-why? Why does… the world just hate me so much? First my mother! Dead! D-dead! I never even got to meet her! Talk to her!”
“You’re ri-”
“And then! And then,” Strange interrupted; Twilight understood now, he just wanted her to listen, “those ponies! They th-thought I killed you!”
There was silence for a few moments; achingly long moments that made Twilight question if she should still be listening rather than helping actively. The silence was almost deafening.
“...am I a monster, Twilight?” He asked quietly, not hissing anymore but in the same position as before.
She recoiled slightly, though kept her hoof on him. “No, Strange! No. You’re not a monster at all. I know you think that’s why my friends attacked - but they were wrong. We’ve lived hectic lives for a long time, and so we panic easily. They assumed the worst, and they shouldn’t have, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s because of them and not you. You’re not a monster, Strange. You’re a good creature. A good xenomorph.”
Strange took a very deep breath. He stood up slowly, Twilight standing at the same time and keeping her hoof on him. He turned and began to walk away and down the stairs; Twilight stopped and lifted the hoof that had been on his back to her mouth, chewing at it slightly, nervous at how her friends would react this time.
Snapping out of it, she quickly followed, reaching the bottom of the stairs in time for what would’ve been a stare-off between Strange and her friends were it not for the fact that Strange lacked eyes. They seemed guilty. He seemed… well, she wasn’t sure. It was hard to read someone you had just met, especially when that someone was a species you hadn’t even heard of before.
It was Strange who spoke first. The door in his mind jerked, as if something was trying to open it, whispers leaking through - you were going to slice them into ribbons, you’re the apex predator, a living weapon, MAKE THEM REGRET IT - but he was strong enough to ignore it. “I… understand. I forgive you.”
The mental effort it took to say that was incredible, but it felt exhilarating. The door began to push further closed against the weight of what felt like a billion voices, and he gave it one more push; “You were in the wrong, but you were not wrong.”
It felt… freeing. There were no more whispers. The door shut itself fully. Strange smiled for a brief moment before he remembered the rest of today. Before any more could even be said, however, there was a knock at Twilight’s door. She frowned and walked to her door, opening it slowly before seeing who stood in front of it. With wide eyes she quickly opened it and walked back, bowing slightly before remembering that she didn’t really need to. She, too, was a princess now; something she often forgot.
Celestia and Luna, the diarchs of Equestria and Guardian-Protectors of the Sky, walked into her home, eyes immediately landing on Strange Form. He felt intimidated, and the door in his mind opened back up somewhat, backed by those same billion voices in greater strength. Around the princesses, though, it felt like a hurricane fought back against those voices.
Immediately, Celestia noticed how he had shrunk back somewhat, fearful. The same thing many fillies and colts of a more nervous disposition had done before. She smiled gently and bent down somewhat. He was slightly larger than one of her subjects, now, but still a head shorter than her, which was no surprise. The height of an alicorn was impressive, especially for a four-legged being. “What’s your name?”
He opened his mouth before shutting it and swallowing. “Strange… Strange Form, that is, uh, Princess.”
She raised an eyebrow. He knew she was one of the princesses. Curious. She shot Luna a look in time to catch her sending the same look. So they agreed - that was a sign of something, they just didn’t know what yet. “Very well. You know who I am. Princess Luna and I would appreciate it if we could speak with you and Twilight.”
Celestia stood back up and walked outside, followed by Luna. Twilight sighed and turned, beckoning to Strange. They walked out and the door shut behind them.
“Ah… Ah can’t believe he forgave us. Just like that.” Applejack said, sitting on her rump in surprise. She was breathing slightly harder than usual until Rarity wrapped an arm around her.
“He’s a good… creature, Applejack. We made a mistake and he understood that.” She said, smiling at Applejack, who smiled back.
“Was it just a mistake, though? Or,” Fluttershy muttered, sitting in a corner with her hooves over her head, “is this something he shouldn’t have forgiven? An underlying problem? Speciesism, even?”
Pinkie smiled broadly and hopped over to her. “Fluttershy, you silly billy! I know it can seem like that, and we probably have underlying xenophobic traits considering that Equestrian education has some massive holes in towns like this that tend to prioritise the places where we shine in history and where the other species of this planet are monsters, and especially in Cloudsdale, a city of warriors, and even more especially because we live near the Everfree Forest where basically everything is a monster, but Rarity is right! It was an honest mistake! A carnivorous and unknown creature was here, Twilight wasn’t - and we know how little she goes outside, she needs to get more sun - and we’ve basically lived in chaos for the past three years! We made the wrong assumption, but the correct one!”
The entire room blinked. Pinkie realised she had broken out of character before Fluttershy quickly broke into tears and hugged Pinkie, thanking her. Pinkie rubbed her back before detaching Fluttershy from her and reaching deep into her mane, rummaging around for a moment and pulling out a cupcake. If you looked really closely, there was writing in a very small font on there.
‘Sorry about that, that was more of my Pinkie sense than anything!’
Fluttershy laughed and began to eat the pancake. The room relaxed somewhat. Rainbow began to propose things they could do to apologise, and they discussed while the four outside talked, too.
Strange spoke up first. “Is it… okay if we do this sometime else? I’m… tired.”
Luna beat Celestia to the response. “I’m sorry, no. You’re a possible security threat of hitherto unthought of proportions. We must speak now.”
Celestia and Twilight both glared at her, and Strange shrunk back further. Luna had the sense to at least look ashamed of herself, knowing she had gone a step further than she should’ve. In her head, she cursed the societal and cultural change in Equestria. In the old Equestria that she knew, that would’ve been perfectly acceptable.
Celestia turned back to Strange. “She is not necessarily wrong, Strange Form. Given the circumstances, we thought it appropriate to… get it out of the way, as it were. Your usual investigation of non-alicorn ponies would necessitate an investigation, but I believe I only have one question: would you allow us to look into your mind?”
This was something Celestia and Luna had agreed upon on their way. They needed to do this as quickly as possible; far as they were concerned, the xenomorph problem had to be handled as soon as possible, and this was ‘as soon as possible’, not to mention the mental might of Luna would allow her to catch any evil intentions almost immediately.
Strange was silent for a moment. “I can’t say no, can I?”
Celestia looked at him with pity in her eyes. Luna held her own unreadable stance, almost professional. “No, of course you can,” Twilight said, unsure of herself, “it would be wrong otherwise.”
The princesses looked to each other for a moment. Twilight looked at them with hope. Strange shook his head. “No, no. It’s okay. I suppose you may.”
Twilight looked at Strange in surprise. The mind was the most private thing; there was nothing more unheard of than giving others permission to look into your mind, though the difficulty of navigating such an environment played a part there too. Without further adieu, Luna lit up her horn, and that glimmer of blue crawled up it before spilling into the air and reaching inside of Strange’s head.
They both collapsed immediately. Twilight caught Strange, laying him on the ground, sporting a look of worry, especially for Strange’s mental health. Celestia caught Luna, laying her on the ground, sporting a look of worry for something else entirely. The safety of all Equus was at risk here; and that was not something she ever said lightly.
The world was lush, but in the distance, there was a sprawling expanse of ash and grey. Luna hardened herself. Something was achingly wrong in this mind, she could feel it, but what?
She didn’t know, but she’d find out. It’s what she did, and she had a long time. Every hour that passed in the mind was only half-a-minute in the real world.
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Nice to see this story back and it has taken a very interesting turn. As always here's hoping things work out for our adorable Xeno boy
10777103 Nice to see a familiar face in the comments! We'll see how Strange does for what I have planned! :)
Nice to see this is alive! (And you, for that matter) You know how hard it is to find a story like this? A story with xenomorph that isn't dead or crap?
Anyways good chapter bud.
10777106 Thanks! I'll make sure to have more out within the week given the... small gap between this chapter and chapter five! Good to see you're back for more Strange!
*Insert McDonald's slogan here.*
10777612 Hell yeah!
10778178
*Calls off my UNSC forces, having grown mentally/physically over the past year*
Calling them off, I'm realising now that the trauma that Strange Form will go through will help him grow as a character.